American Pie at Its Best

By Michael Demarest

The Reagan look: assured, affluent and, yes, conservative

Clothes do not the man or woman make, but they can tell a great deal about both. This is particularly true of a U.S. President and his First Lady, whose every costume change is remorselessly recorded by the color camera. In this respect, Ronald and Nancy Reagan seem all but certain to win approbation and exert considerable influence on American style. The Reagans dress in quiet, expensive--and yes, conservative--good taste.

In the eyes of fashion followers they will be the most interestingly turned out White House couple since the Kennedys.

Though neither of the Reagans is a fashion plate, both dress with assurance and a keen sense of what is appropriate for almost every occasion, be it a barbecue on their California ranch (top-of-the-line cowboy garb), a press conference (Ron may be in plaid jacket and slacks, Nancy in a preppie blazer and skirt) or a fund-raising banquet (business suit for him, cocktail dress for her).

At his Inauguration, Reagan will be the first President since J.F.K. to wear formal morning attire. The selection, made by Reagan himself: an Italian-style black jacket of barathea cloth and striped gray woolen trousers with a three-button dove-gray vest, an outfit for which Reagan's Beverly Hills tailor, Frank Mariani, will charge him $1,250. Average rental price of a similar suit for Washington dignitaries: $42. The new President has no head for toppers. Nancy has a new mink in the closet, but may forgo it in favor of a Republican cloth coat. The Reagans' attire will be a considerable departure from the populist style of the Carters. For his Inauguration, Jimmy Carter wore a $175 suit he had bought off the rack a week before, which was consistent with his announced desire to de-emphasize the pomp of the White House.

For the nine Inaugural balls on Jan. 20 --all of which he intends to drop in on, save a party for the young--the President will wear tails made for him a few years ago by Mariani. As soon as word leaked that they would be white tie, virtually every formal wear rental store in the capital was stripped of tails. In accordance with the Cinderella rule, which precludes a new First Lady from disclosing her gala getup, Nancy would not say what she will wear for the ball, though rumor has it that it will be a white gown by Galanos, one of her favorite designers (price for the ordinary buyer: up to $8,000). She will wear white shoes and carry a rhinestone-decked white handbag by Manhattan's Judith Lieber, who makes the priciest totes in America.

Nancy's favorite designers are Adolfo, Bill Blass and Galanos, whom she admires especially for what she calls their "simple, classical lines." She has a penchant for red, but almost all her clothes are colorful. In Adolfo's view, she projects "a chic, affluent way of looking, extremely sophisticated." Blass calls her style "crisp and fresh." According to Gale Hayman, co-owner of Giorgio's, a shop on Rodeo Drive where Mrs. Reagan has bought some of her clothes, she will be "very proper, very dignified, like Pat Nixon. But she will go a few steps further, closer to Jackie Onassis." Top U.S. designers, anticipating a boost in business, note approvingly that Nancy wears American clothes almost exclusively (she has a few dresses from French Couturier Yves Saint Laurent's Rive Gauche).

The new President has three basic wardrobes: cowboy, country club casual and what is sometimes called "California executive." Though he raised a few traditionalist eyebrows by wearing a restrained--even distinguished--blue-and-red plaid sports jacket on a recent trip to Washington, his generally tweedy coats and dark slacks look smart and comfortable. His business suits, in grays, browns and blues, are skillfully tailored but have a faintly old-fashioned look. One reason is that his broad shoulders and erect posture make his jackets look overly padded.

He also dons a light brown gabardine or white linen suit in warm weather.

Says John Weitz, who heads the biggest men's fashion business in the U.S.

and is himself perennially ensconced on the best-dressed lists: "Reagan has perfect judgment on how to be suitably dressed without upsetting people who would prefer not to see a Europeanized President; or Westerners who would prefer not seeing a Princeton President; or Easterners who would prefer not to see a Western President. Reagan will never make anyone feel that he's above the people who elected him." As Designer Halston puts it, "He's American pie at its best."

Both Reagans get a substantial sartorial lift from their good looks and trim figures. Says Mariani: "He has about as close to a perfect figure as you can have."

The presidential chest is 44 in.; during the campaign his waistline expanded from 36.25 in. to 37 in. Nancy's size-6 measurements have not changed a stitch in 15 years, according to Adolfo. She is sufficiently confident of her fit and taste to order a gown by phone after seeing one she likes in a fashion magazine.

Most Americans have neither the bods nor the boodle to dress in the presidential fashion. Nor does White House style necessarily impress the populace. No one stormed the stores for Jimmy Carter's cardigans or Lyndon Johnson's baggy pants. On the other hand, Jack Kennedy's two-button suits (whose looser lines he adopted to disguise the back brace he often had to wear) set a fashion for two decades. Jackie's Halston-designed pillbox hats were as common as canapes at cocktail parties of the '60s. If the Reagan look does not incite the masses to clothe themselves likewise, it promises both verve and dignity in the White House. --ByMichaelDemarest. Reported by Douglas Brew/Los Angeles and Georgia Harbison/New York

With reporting by Douglas Brew, Georgia Harbison

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